Chapter Five #2
“It’s been a lot harder than I thought,” I admit. I don’t want Aiden to feel sorry for me, so I quickly flash him a smile. “But I know it will happen. I just have to keep going out and meeting people until I find my people.”
“You will,” he reassures me. “Sooner than you think.”
We go on to talk for a long time, discovering things about each other.
I find out the scar over Aiden’s left eyebrow is from a stick that got up under his visor, and I show him a scar on my neck from a stupid curling-iron accident.
We each share some funny stories from our time in college and things we’ve discovered we like about Miami.
We talk more about our pets, and I love that he’s as big of an animal person as I am.
We’re both sports fans and spend a lot of time watching it on TV.
Obviously, I love soccer, and he’s a huge football fan.
But I also discover how deep his passion for hockey runs.
How hard he’s worked at his game, and how proud he is to be an alternate captain for the team.
This is the first time he’s worn the A on his jersey, and Aiden says it’s an honor and a privilege to be seen as one of the leaders for the team.
He believes in leading by example on and off the ice and conducts himself accordingly.
Aiden tells me he promised my dad he’d make sure he never regretted making him an alternate captain.
It’s just more for me to like about him, the way he sees his role on the Manatees. There’s a maturity in the way he speaks, and he not only respects my dad, but the game itself.
After we each get refills on our coffees, I decide I want to take our questions in a different direction.
“So what about your dating life?” I ask, swirling some half-and-half into my coffee. “When was your last significant relationship?”
Aiden begins drumming his fingers rapidly on the table. “You mean lack of dating life?”
Is he embarrassed to tell me this? Is that why the fingers are anxiously drumming again?
If that’s true, it’s about the swooniest thing EVER.
“I doubt you have a lack of one,” I tease. “If you do, it’s by choice. Or do I have to pull up the number of women on TikTok and Connectivity Story Share who want to tattoo your number on their bodies?”
Aiden stops drumming and shoots me a mortified look. “You’re making that up.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, I am not. Would you like me to show you?”
Even in the dim lighting, I can detect a flush once again climbing up his pale neck. “No, I do not want you to show me,” he says quickly.
“Okay, I won’t. But when was your last significant relationship?” I ask.
Aiden doesn’t say anything. For a moment I panic, wondering if I reached too far with that question.
“Okay, you really want to dig into my relationship history, which I will allow only if I get to dig into yours,” he finally says.
Okay, I didn’t go too far. Whew.
“Yes, you can.” I quirk a brow at him. “But you might be disappointed with my answer.”
“Intriguing,” Aiden says, his voice low.
“Possibly. But you go first.”
“I’ve had one significant relationship,” he says slowly. “Madison.”
I carefully study his eyes, looking to see if there’s any kind of sign of how he feels about her now. Is there longing? Regret? Pain? Relief?
“We got together my sophomore year at Providence. I met her at a party. We had some beers and began to talk. Before the end of the night, I had her number. I didn’t even wait a few days to text her.
I texted her that night and asked her out.
My teammates gave me so much shit about it, that I had no game, this girl was never going to respond because I was too easy. But it worked. We dated for years.”
“Wow,” I say. “That’s serious.”
“It was. She was my first—and only—serious relationship.”
“So what happened?” I ask, curious.
“Hockey,” Aiden says simply. “I left Providence after my junior year to start my career with Salt Lake, and we lasted another two years long distance. We broke up when my season ended in April. Madison told me she couldn’t do it anymore.
She was going to stay out east and go to grad school, and I had no idea how long I’d be in one place with the NHL.
She said missing me was too much. It was too hard on her to continue on like that.
I fought her on it. I said we’d figure it out.
Find a way to make it better for her. But she resisted me.
She was crying, I was crying, and it was just sad.
Because no matter what people say, sometimes love isn’t enough. ”
I’m still studying Aiden’s face. I don’t see sadness there, or regrets. He’s just speaking in a matter-of-fact way about his experience.
“I’m so sorry,” I say quietly. “That had to be so hard. Especially when you want to fight, and the other person doesn’t.”
“Yeah. That’s why the trade to Miami was good. I felt like it was a clean start for me. New city, new teammates, new system. All kinds of things to keep me busy this summer. And distracted.” Then he looks at me. “What about you? When was your last serious relationship?
“The longest I dated someone in college was three months. You know, the point where you usually break up or decide to commit to a relationship. The three-month rule.”
“That’s a thing? A three-month rule?”
“Yes. That’s usually a point for couples who are dating where they either end it or go forward.”
“Is this a real thing or a Google thing?” Aiden teases.
“Both!” I exclaim, and then we burst into laughter.
“Did you end it or did he?”
“I ended it. Drew was a nice enough guy, but I just didn’t see potential for a future.”
“Did you break a lot of hearts?” Aiden asks, his eyes dancing at me.
“Ha, no. I just never met anyone I wanted to be in a relationship with long-term. I need chemistry. I need for the man to be a man. Past the red-cup stage of life. I want him to know what he wants and have goals and ideas for how he hopes to achieve them. I’m looking for someone … different. Special.”
Someone like you, Aiden, my heart whispers. Someone like you.
His fingertips resume drumming on the tabletop. “My turn for a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Did your brothers scare off a lot of guys? I bet they didn’t want anyone around their little sister.”
I chuckle at that. “Oh, you have no idea. In high school, not one guy on the hockey team would look at me, let alone dare to talk to me, thanks to my older brothers.”
“It’s like Coach now,” Aiden says with a smile.
I look at him in horror. “Oh my God! Did my dad actually tell the team not to talk to me?”
Aiden quickly puts up his hand. “No, no, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just we all know you’re Coach’s daughter. So without it being said, you’re off-limits. Like your brothers made you in high school.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. I was about to be mortified for a second.”
“No, no reason to be mortified,” he reassures me.
“I’m off-limits, yet here you are.”
Aiden’s eyes meet mine, but this time, his gaze is intense. It makes me shiver.
“I’m here,” Aiden says, his voice low, “because I saw a girl at Casino Night. As soon as I saw her, I said to myself, ‘I have to get to know her.’ That’s never happened to me before.”
My throat goes dry as my heart thunders against my ribs. “I wanted you to talk to me,” I confess. “Badly. And that’s never happened to me before.”
Aiden’s eyes darken. I’m practically holding my breath, waiting for what he’s going to say next.
“It’s getting late,” he finally says. “We should probably go.”
Disappointment crushes me. This is where everything ends. I’ve enjoyed my evening of flirting, of conversation, of getting to know this amazing man, and now it’s all going to slip right though my fingers like sand, no matter how hard I try to hold on to it.
“Right,” I say.
Aiden flags down our server and hands over his credit card.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
“You’re welcome,” he says.
Dread fills me as we wait for the server to come back with his receipt and card. I’m moments away from saying goodbye to Aiden, when it’s the last thing I want to do.
As I see her approaching with the black bill holder in her hand, my stomach grows nauseous. How am I supposed to say goodbye to Aiden like this? Knowing I’ll only see him on the ice as a spectator after learning what an incredible man he is outside of that uniform?
And how can I say goodbye after realizing I want to continue to get to know him? Aiden is what I’ve been looking for. He’s different. My gut tells me if we could just have one date, it would be the beginning of something incredible between us.
“Thank you, Mr. Wentworth,” the server says. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Thank you,” Aiden says. After she leaves, he flips open the card holder and scrawls his name across the receipt. Then he retrieves his credit card and slips it into his wallet. “Are you ready?”
No. I’m not ready. Not when I feel like we could be beginning.
“Yes,” I lie.
I rise from my seat, and Aiden does, too. He motions for me to walk first. As I pass him, his hand goes to the small of my back. Goose bumps sweep over my skin from the sensation of his touch. Through the thin fabric of my top, I feel that slight pressure of his fingertips.
His thumb lands on the bare sliver of skin that’s showing, his warm, calloused skin pressing into mine. It sends my pulse soaring.
Over the feel of him.
We’re greeted by the sounds of Christmas music in the festive hotel lobby. I’m headed in the direction of the exit when Aiden suddenly says, “Scarlett, wait.”
I stop next to the magnificent Christmas tree and turn around. Aiden is staring down at me, his eyes very intense and serious. My heart leaps with hope inside my chest.
“I—I take my role as alternate captain very seriously,” he blurts out. “I think you already know that.”
“I do.”
“Your dad put a lot of trust in me to give me that A. Especially as a new player to the team. I’m young. I’ve never worn the A before. But he told me he saw a maturity in me beyond my years. I promised him I wouldn’t let him down.”
Could Aiden be willing to start something with me? See where it goes? Then deal with my dad later if we got serious? Could that really work?
I don’t say anything. Aiden continues. “But I never expected you would be who you are,” he says, his voice rough. He pauses and rakes a hand through his hair, almost as if he’s frustrated. “I saw you tonight and I had to talk to you. And I knew within seconds you were different.”
“I knew it about you, too,” I confess.
“If you were any other person, or if I were with another team …” Aiden trails off for a moment and looks away, focusing on a branch of the ornately decorated tree next to us.
My heart roars inside my ears as I wait for him to continue.
Finally, he turns back to me, his gaze determined.
“If the situation were different, I’d be asking you right now to go out on a date with me. But I can’t. I can’t do it.”
My thin shred of hope shatters. Why do I feel like I could cry?
“I understand,” I manage to say.
“No, I don’t think you do,” Aiden says, looking desperately at me. “Because I really want to date you. I’ve—I’ve never felt this way about any woman I’ve ever met before.”
My heart pounds against my rib cage. He feels everything about our connection that I do. This is something different. Something special.
And something neither one of us want to let go of.
“I want to date you, too,” I say. “If you asked me right now, I’d say yes.”
A painful silence falls between us as visions of a reality we can never share sink in.
“I wish I could date you,” Aiden says, his voice thick with regret. “But I can’t. I only hope you can understand that, Scarlett.”
I bite my lip. “I understand,” I whisper.
He rakes his hand through his hair again, several times over. Then he exhales. “Is it okay if we remain friends?” he asks softly.
Something tells me this is a terrible idea, to embark on a friendship with Aiden. Because all it will lead to is me liking him even more—and knowing I can never have him.
But the idea of never being around him again? After tonight?
I can’t do it, even if it’s a dangerous, stupid move on my part.
“Yes,” I say, nodding.
“Good,” Aiden says. “We can be friends.”
“Yes. Friends.”
Another silence falls between us, and finally, Aiden clears his throat. “Come on, let’s go.”
I nod. He escorts me out the front doors to the valet stand, and we both turn in our tickets. The air is cool tonight, and the lighted palm trees sway in the ocean breeze.
We’re both silent, wrapped up in our own thoughts. I’m sure he’s also thinking about how things could be so incredibly different tonight if my last name weren’t Rivershon. There’s no way a leader like Aiden would ever make a move on the coach’s daughter.
And I can’t ask him to compromise who he is to do it.
My car is brought around first, and I reluctantly look up at him. “That’s mine,” I say quietly.
“Right,” Aiden says.
The ocean breeze drifts across us again, and I watch as it ruffles his hair. I long to reach up and fix it, but I can’t.
I can’t do anything as far as Aiden is concerned.
“Thank you for tonight,” I say. “I enjoyed our conversation so much.”
“I did, too. Thank you for meeting me.”
“Good night, Aiden.”
“Be careful going home.”
I nod and walk around to my car. I slip behind the wheel and take one last look at Aiden, who is standing at the valet stand, still staring at me. As I tear my gaze away from him, a sick feeling washes over me.
Not because I have to leave Aiden behind tonight. We’ve decided to be friends.
I feel sick for another reason, and to my surprise, tears prick my eyes.
I feel sick because I have to leave the idea of dating him behind.
For good.